Magnetic broom



April 16, 1968 R. J. MCGREGOR MAGNETIC BROOM Filed April 28, 1965 VN To/e ROBE/er .1. Me 6056 04 BY A WORN/5y United States Patent 3,377,641 MAGNETIC BROOM Robert J. McGregor, Los Angeles, Calif. (P.O. Box 397, Malibu, Calif. 90265) Filed Apr. 28, 1965, Ser. No. 451,423 Claims. (Cl. 15-405) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A bristle and magnetic sweeper is provided having a handle member for retaining a fixed row of bristles and a rotatable magnet in spaced parallel relationship to the brush. A pair of knobs are provided for rotating the magnet to selectively attract and release metal particles collected by the magnetic forces.

The present invention relates to a combination magnetic and brush broom and, more particularly, to such a device having magnet means and bristle brush means for dislodging and collecting small metal particles or objects of ferrous material as well as material of a fibrous nature from sewing rooms, garments, rugs, factory floors and other places where such materials are objectionable.

Although other industrial and domestic applications will become readily apparent from a study hereof, the present invention will hereafter be discussed primarily with reference to usage by seamstresses and others engaged in working with fabrics, pins and threads. In the garment industry, it has been a long standing problem to effect the removal of lint, hair, dust, pins, thread and the like from cloth materials such as garments, wearing apparel and fabric. It is believed, in some instances, that such foreign matter adheres to the surface of the garment with great tenacity due to the forces of attraction occasioned by the electrostatic charges carried by the fabrics and the foreign matter themselves. Particularly in the manufacture of garments, seamstresses have experienced great inconvenience in dislodging and collecting small pins, of the straight pin variety, as well as short thread cuttings and other foreign matter from the surface of the garment being manufactured.

It has been the conventional practice to loosen and remove this foreign matter as lint, hair, pins and threads or the like from material and fabric by manually employing a bristle brush to sweep the surface of the garlment clean and by manually picking up and collecting the pins which can be visually located. However, dimculties have been encountered which are due largely to the fact that loose thread and pins may be randomly found together and may be caught in the garment such that normal brushing Will not separate the thread and pins from the garment. Also, a sweeping procedure does not accomplish the collection of the pins and threads which ultimately must be manually accomplished with consequent irritation and pricking of the fingers and hands of the seamstress as the pins and threads are not readily observable and, in such instances, the garment surface is not cleaned of the foreign matter and the separating and collection of the foreign matter is incomplete.

Still further, loose threads and pins commonly become randomly disposed and interengaged with respect to each other upon the tables, benches and floors of the work area, presenting various problems such as personal hazards, snagging of the garment fabric, and generally unsatisfactory conditions of such work surfaces, all of which necessitate frequent, ,time consuming, non-productive, and wasteful operations of removal and disposal of such objects, usually resulting in loss of the otherwise reusable pins.

Patented Apr. 16, 1968 To obviate the problems and difiiculties encountered with the employment of conventional practices and procedures, the present invention provides a combination magnetic and bristle brush device for use in dislodging and collecting pins and threads and the like from the surface of fabric and work areas generally by employing a bristle brush which separates foreign matter from the surface of the fabric and a magnet means for collecting metallic objects such as pins which are capable of being attracted by a magnetic force so that all foreign matter, both ferrous and non-ferrous, is readily removed. Once the foreign matter has been dislodged from the fabric or is otherwise available upon a surface, collection of such matter as thread and hair is accomplished by the bristle brush while the ferrous particles such as pins are held to the broom by magnetic attraction. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the bristle brush and magnet means are operable at effectively separate regions of the broom relative to their disposition with respect to the objects being collected so that separation of the ferrous objects from the fibrous objects occurs simultaneously with the joint removal and collection of all such objects. A further and additionally important feature of the invention resides in a means for automatically removing the magnetic attraction forces which retain metallic particles to the device so that separation of collected particles from the broom device may be conveniently effected. Furthermore, the presence of the magnetic force has the effect of discharging or neutralizing any electro static electricity which may be holding foreign matter onto the fabric.

Therefore, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a new and improved apparatus for readily removing lint, hair, dust, threads, pins or the like from a fabric, material or surface without causing damage thereto during the removal procedure.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved apparatus for effecting the removal of threads and pins or other ferrous or non-ferrous foreign matter from a garment or work surface by effectively dislodging the foreign matter therefrom and collecting the foreign matter for subsequent disposal.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a pin and thread dislodging and collecting apparatus which permits ready cleaning of the apparatus after the threads and pins have been collected thereon so that each of the articles collected may be disposed in separate receptacles for either subsequent use or for discarding.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a novel thread and pin broom which dislodges and collects pins, thread or the like from the surface of a garment, table or floor without injury to hands and tfingers and which does not rely upon visual location of the pins and threads to be collected.

Accordingly, the invention consists of the various features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangements of parts as are more fully set forth in the appended claims and in the following details of descri tion, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a broom in accordance with the present invention capable of achieving the dislodgement and collection of foreign matter as aforesaid;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view, partly in section, of the broom shown in FIGURE 1 broken away to expose the magnetic and bristle brush means therefor;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary front elevational view of the broom, partially in section, as shown in FIGURE 2 having a portion broken away to more clearly illustrate the magnetic and bristle brush means;

FIGURE 4 is-a side'elevational view of the same aspect as FIGURE 2, illustrating the magnetic means actuated to its release position;

FIGURE 5 is a'fragmentaiy front elcvational view, similar in aspect to FIGURE 3, illustrating therelease position of FIGURE 4; and

FIGURE 6 is a reduced size perspective view of the the broom shown in FIGURE 1 having a novel handle attached thereto composed of a' series of rods and spools.

Referring to the drawings, the novel broom shown in FIGURE 1 includes a handle member 10 which may be composed or formed of any suitable non-magnetic material, such as wood, plastic, or so forth to which a handle 11 may be suitably attached if desired. For some 'applications, such as for'swecping a floor or rug, the elongated handle 11 maybe employed; however,-the handle member 10 has a configuration substantially triangular in cross-section so that the broom may be conveniently gripped and held by hand while in use. i

Carried on opposite ends of the broom member, a pair of knobs 12 and 13 are provided which are secured to the opposite ends of a magnetic means 14 (shown in FIGURE 2). The pair of knobs retain the magnetic means in rotatable position relative to the handle member so as to maintain the magnetic means from sliding out of its receiver. Each knob is configured to accommodate turning or rotation thereof by finger application gripping against slightly curved sides 15 and 16 respectively. The pair of knobs are specifically configured with a flat surface 17 which, when the handle member is employed to magnetically attract metal particles, lies flush and in conformity with a fiat non-magnetic sheet 18 representing the sweeping surface of the handle member. Sheet 18 may be secured to the handle member by any suitable means; however, as shown, the sheet 18 is formed as an integral part of the handle member and bent therebeneath to provide the sweeping surface.

As shown in FIGURE 2, the handle member includes an elongated slot 20 on one side of the handle member longitudinal center line for receiving a bristle block 21 which may be seated in the slot by any suitable means such as an interference fit, adhesive or other fastening means. The bristle block includes a plurality of bristles 22 arranged in a row along the length of the handle member which extend downwardly from the handle through the elongated slot and protrude approximately one-fourth of an inch beyond the sweeping surface 18 into working contact with a surface 23 to be swept clean.

Located on the other side of the handle member longitudinal center line from the row of bristles 22 and in parallel relationship therewith, there is provided a circular receiver or bore 24 which extends throughout the length of the handle member. The receiver or bore is employed for rotatably mounting the magnetic means which includes an insertable tube 25 carrying the magnet 14. The bore opens exteriorly of the handle member at its opposite ends and communicates exteriorally of the handle member through a magnetic field passage means such as may be represented by an elongated slot or cutout 26 which is of reduced width as compared with the bore diameter so as to assure the rotatable retention of the tube 25 within the bore. The flatsheet 18 covers the elongated cut-out 26 so as to prevent dirt and other foreign matter from entering into the tube receiver and to offer a sweeping and collecting surface against which particles, such as a pin 27, susceptible to magnetic attraction may adhere.

The magnetic means which provides magnetic sweeping includes the tube 25 which is preferably made of brass, aluminum or some other non-magnetic material and the bar magnet 14 which is of the permanent magnet type. The permanent magnet 14 may be held in place within the hollow bore of the tube by means of packing 2% which may be of any suitable fibrous nature or other stuifing which may be inserted within the hollow of the tube. between the inner diameter wall and one side of the bar magnet. Preferably, the opposite sides of the bar magnet may be tapered along its length in order to seat the bar magnet within the tube so that a face 35) of the magnet may be disposed closer to the fiat sheet 18 than if the sides of the bar magnet terminated in sharp corners. A feature of the present embodiment of the invention resides in forming the tube 25 with an elongated slot31 disposed adjacent the magnet face 36 so that magnetic lines of fiux imay radiate or pass through the slot exteriorally of the tube 25 and penetrate through the thin sheet 13. Inasmuch as the tube is composed of non-magnetic material, magnetic attraction forces are only present exteriorly of the tube in the vicinity of the bar magnet along the elongated slot. If prefered, handle member bore 24 may be formed so that its wall is very close to the sweeping surface so as to provide a reduced wall 'thickness therebetween through which the magnetic field from the magnet face 30 may radiate. Such construction would be equivalent to the provision of slot 26 and the fiat sheet 13 in which case magnetic attraction of ferrous materials would occur upon the registry of the tube slot 31 'and'magnet face 30 with the handle member reduced wall thickness.

As shown in FIGURE 3, the opposite ends of the bar magnet extend beyond the ends of the tube and are suitably attached to the knobs 12 and 13 respectively so that the magnetic means, including the tube and bar magnet, may be rotated as a unit within the bore 24. However, if preferred, the knobs may be attached to opposite ends of the tube in which case, the magnet may be of shorter length than the tube. The bar magnet lies in a plane to the side of the central longitudinal axis of rotation of the tube 25 so that rotation of the tube by means of the bar magnet 14 and knobs causes eccentric rotation of the magnet 14.

The magnetic means illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 3 is shown in its operation position for performing a magnetic sweeping procedure wherein the elongated slots 26 and 31 are registered with respect to each other to permit magnetic attraction of metal particles such as the pin 27. Indication of such registry is made known by the position of the knobs 12 and 13 wherein the flat surface 17 of each knob lies flush and in alignment with the sweeping surface of the sheet 18.

In reference to FIGURES 4 and 5, the brush and magnetic broom is shown wherein the magnetic means have been rotated so as to move the elongated tube slot 31 out of registry with the elongated slot 26 of the handle member. Such rotational movement of the magnetic means causes thenon-inagnetic mate-rial of the tube to block or close the elongated slot 26 to prevent or interfere with the radiation of magnetic lines of force so that any magnetic attraction through the sweeping surface 18 is eliminated. As illustrated in FIGURE 4, the pin 27 composed of ferrous material lying on the work surface 2-3 is not attracted by the magnetic lines of force generated by the permanent magnet 14.

A distinct advantage resides in the selective positioning of the magnetic means since, when the magnet is placed in registry with the slots or openings in both the tube and the handle member, magnetic lines of force will cause pieces of magnetic or ferrous material to adhere to the sweeping surface 18. In this fashion, the magnetic material may be collected on the sweeping surface until the sweeping ope-ration has been completed whereby the broom may be removed to a magnetic material disposal bin (not shown) and the magnetic means rotated to release the magnetic pieces from the sweeping surface of the sheet 18 so that these pieces will drop into the bin.

With respect to FIGURE 6 it is noted that a handle is attached to the broom 10 which includes a novel arrangement of rods 32 and spools 33. These elements are arranged in an end-to-end relationship alternating between rods and spools to provide an extended handle of desired length. A feature resides in the handle wherein the spools may be discarded thread spools having a central bore extending therethrough into which the ends of adjacent rods may be inserted. The rods may be secured in position by any suitable means such as a press-fit, adhesive or fasteners.

'In actual practice, when the broom of the present invention is used to sweep a surface 23 of small thread cuttings and magnetic particles such as pins, either knob 12 or 13 is rotated so that its flat side 17 is substantially flush with the sweeping surface of the sheet 18 attached to the handle member 10. Inasmuch as the flat surfaces 17 are parallel to the sweeping magnet surface 30, adjustment of the magnetic means, including tube 25, is assured such that the parallel elongated slots 26 and 31 are in proper registry to permit magnetic attraction forces to radiate through the non-metallic flat sheet 18 whereby a substantial area between the sweeping surface and the working surface 23 is permeated with magnetic flux.

As the broom is repeatedly passed over the working surface, the bristle brush 22 dislodges or separates both ferrous and non-ferrous materials from the working surface whereby the ferrous materials are attracted by the magnetic forces of the magnet 14 and become adhered to the sweeping surface of the sheet 18. Non-ferrous materials are collected by the brush and may be subsequently removed by combing or pulling the material from the bristles. However, removal of the ferrous materials from the sweeping surface may be readily achieved by rotating the knobs 12 or 13 in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction which .takes the parallel extending slots 26 and 31 out of registry and disposes the wall of the tube 2-5 between the magnet 14 and the sweeping surface 18. This arrangement shields the magnetic attraction field and prevents r definitely reduces the magnetic attraction forces within the area beneath the sweeping surface 18. The metallic particles held against'the sweeping surface 18 are now released and are free to fall into a central hopper or bin for further collection or disposal.

It should now be clear that, in essence, the magnet means of the present invention employs a permanent magnet for simplicity, economy, and ready availability of magnetic flux and that, in accordance with the present invention, the magnet means is selectively oriented in accordance with desired attitude and availability of the magnetic flux to perform the attraction and release functions as aforesaid by means of both magnetic shielding, as by means of the non-magnetic tube 24 and packing 28, and also spatial separation for diminishing the effective intensity of the magnetic lines of force available at the pickup surface 18 due to eccentric rotation of the magnet 14. The shielding effect may be enhanced even further by employment of a sheet of either magnetic or non-magnetic material adhered directly upon the inner surface of the magnet 14 opposite to its face 39.

While particular embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from this invention in its broader aspects, and, therefore, the aim in the appended claims is to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.

I claim:

1. A bristle and magnetic broom comprising the combination of:

a handle member;

a row of bristles secured to said handle member and extending along the entire length thereof for dislodging particles of ferrous and non-ferrous materials from a working surface;

magnetic means rotatably mounted on said handle member in spaced parallel relationship to said row of bristles for collecting ferrous materials dislodged by said bristles; and

means carried by said magnetic means cooperating with said handle member to selectively rotate said mag netic means into alternate positions of particle attraction and release positions.

2. A brush and magnetic sweeper comprising the combination of:

a handle member having a bore extending through its length located on one side of the longitudinal center line of said handle member;

a brush secured to said handle member extending in spaced parallel relationship to said handle member bore located on the other side of said handle member center line;

said handle member having an elongated slot extending between its opposite ends in communication with said handle member bore;

a tube of non-magnetic material rotatably mounted in said handle member bore and having an elongated opening adapted to register with said handle member slot;

a magnet carried in said tube adjacent said tube opening for eccentric rotation about the central axis of said tube; and

means secured to opposite ends of said magnet for rotating said tube and said magnet relative to said handle member to register said tube opening with said handle member slot whereby a magnetic field is provided in close proximity to said brush.

3. The invention as defined in claim 2 including a sheet of non-magnetic material carried on said handle member covering said handle member slot and said sheet offering a sweeping surface against which ferrous materials are retained when said handle member slot and said tube opening are registered.

4. The invention as defined in claim 3 wherein said means for rotating said tube and said magnet include a pair of knobs secured to opposite ends of said magnet wherein each knob is formed with a fiat surface whereby when said knob flat surfaces are flush with said sheet sweeping surface, the tube opening and said handle member slot are in registry.

5. A magnetic sweeper comprising the combination of:

a :handle member having a bore extending through its length on one side of said handle member longitudinal center line;

said handle member having an elongated slot extending between its opposite ends in communication with said handle member bore;

a tube of non-magnetic material rotatably mounted in said handle member bore and having an elongated opening adapted to register with said handle member slot;

a sheet of non-magnetic material carried on said handle member covering said handle member slot to provide a sweeping surface for the collection of ferrous material;

a magnet carried in said tube adjacent said tube opening and extending along a longitudinal plane parallel to and offset from the central longitudinal axis of said tube; and

means secured to opposite ends of said magnet for rotating said tube and said magnet.

6. The invention as defined in claim 5 wherein said means for rotating said tube and said magnet includes a pair of knobs secured to opposite ends of said magnet located beyond the end extremities of said handle member wherein each knob is formed with a flat surface adapted to index said sheet sweeping surface to indicate that said tube opening and said handle member slot are in registry.

7. A bristle and magnetic sweeper comprising the combination of:

a handle member;

a row of bristles secured to said handle member for dislodging ferrous and non-ferrous material from a working surface and extending along the length of said handle member on one side of the center line of said handle member;

said handle member having a bore located on the other side of said handle member center line extending in fixed parallel relationship with said row of bristles;

a tube of non-magnetic material rotatably mounted within said handle member bore and having an elongated opening extending between its opposite ends;

a bar magnet carried within the tube extending along the full length of said tube in close proximity to said tube opening adapted to attract ferrous material;

said handle member having an elongated slot opening said handle member bore exteriorly of the handle member;

a fiat sheet of non-magnetic material secured to said handle member covering said handle member elongated slot providing a sweeping surface for collecting attracted ferrous material; and

means for selectively rotating said tube and said magnet to index said tube opening and said handle member slot into and out of registry with each other.

8. The invention as defined in claim 7 including nonmagnetic material disposed in said tube between the Wall of said tube and the face of said magnet opposite to its face located in close proximity to said tube opening for shielding said handle member slot from magnetic radiation when said tube opening and said handle member are out of registry.

9. A sweeper for dislodging and collecting ferrous and non-ferrous materials comprising the combination of:

a handle member;

a brush means secured to said handle member along the entire length thereof for dislodging the material from a working surface;

magnetic attraction means rotatably carried on said handle member in spaced apart relationship from said brush means in cooperating relationship with said brush means to magnetically attract dislodged ferrous material; and

manually operable means secured to said magnetic means for rotating said magnetic attraction means to selected positions rendering said magnetic attraction means effective to retain attracted ferrous materials to said handle member and effective to release attracted ferrous materials from said handle member.

10. The invention as defined in claim 8 wherein said means for selectively rotating said tube and said magnet includes at least one knob secured to a selected end of said magnet located beyond the end extremity of said handle member, said knob being formed with indexing means adapted to index said sheet sweeping surface to indicate that said tube opening and said handle member slot are in registry.

11. The invention as defined in claim 10 wherein said indexing means includes a fiat surface formed on said knob.

12. The invention as defined in claim 2 including indexing means carried on said rotating means for aligning said tube opening and said handle member slot in registration.

13. The invention as defined in claim 2 wherein said handle member includes an elongated handle fixed at one end to said handle member midway between its opposite ends and adapted to be grasped by the hands of the user when standing in upright position.

14. The invention as defined in claim 2 wherein said handle member is a substantially rounded top portion adapted to be grasped by the hand of the user.

15. The invention as defined in claim 13 wherein said elongated handle comprises a plurality of linear rods joined together at their adjacent ends by a spool to provide an elongated handle of desired length.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,831,393 11/1931 Pierce. 2,426,795 9/ 1947 Sjostrom 294-655 X 2,415,730 2/ 1947 Davis 15-200 X 2,693,279 11/ 1954 Box et al. 209-215 3,206,783 9/1965 Schwartz 15105 3,337,892 8/1967 Speyer 15-105 FOREIGN PATENTS 212,601 7/ 1956 Australia. 1,252,454 12/ 1960 France. 1,285,273 1/1962 France. 1,365,411 5/ 1964 France.

654,335 12/ 1937 Germany.

593,939 10/ 1947 Great Britain.

507,054 9/ 1930 Germany.

304,343 3/ 1955 Switzerland.

DANIEL BLUM, Primary Examiner. 

